Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Wow, 2011 sure is ending with a bang! At my postpartum appointment I found out that I had an umbilical hernia, which is basically a hernia right on the belly button. I really had no idea that I had one I just thought that maybe things were poking out more since having the second child. Well anyway, I had to have surgery on it this past Friday because we really didn't want it to grow any larger or cause any complications in the future. Jaime and I went in at 5:30 am on Friday morning and were home by 11:00 am. I went completely under general anesthesia and really don't recall much after the surgery except that I felt fine and thought that recovery would be a cinch. Well, not so much. Thank goodness for Jaime and the help of his mom this entire weekend because I really do not know how we would've survived it with two little ones and all!! I was in bed all weekend and was in a good deal of pain- it even hurt to clear my throat or sneeze! I guess you don't really realize that almost every body part is connected to your core and when it is hurt, the rest of you hurts. So it is now Tuesday and I am able to hold Joshua and do most of the things that I was pre-surgery. I'm not allowed to vacuum or lift anything heavy (like Quinn) for two weeks. And I'm going to stick to this because I surely don't want to have any repair surgery!

On Saturday while I was in bed Quinn had her first dance recital. I was so sad not to be able to make it but was so proud of her when I saw the video Jaime got and pictures. She had a blast and we're so fortunate to have found something that she truly enjoys. Here are a few pictures from that (thanks to my friend Katie for forwarding these to me!):

Quinn and her little ballerina friend Leah, so adorable!

Getting ready to start!

Dancing to "I Wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas"

Today Joshua and I are hanging solo while Quinn is spending the day with Mama Rose. He is becoming so social and is right on the verge of laughing, its precious. I caught a few pictures of him as he was waking up from his morning nap:

I love how his eyes almost disappear when he smiles!

He was not too sure about having a camera right in his face. I guess I wouldn't be either if I had just woken up too!

Love my sweet boy. :)

On Thursday my sister and her family will arrive and then on Friday my parents and brother will be here. We have lots of celebrating to do as my brother just graduated from college! Yay! I'm super excited to have everybody together!

Over a month ago we took Quinn to Kiddie Acres while Mama Rose and Papa James watched Joshua. It was really important for us to get away and make a special day just for Quinn. At that point she was still having a really hard time adjusting to the new baby and all of the changes going on around the house. We all had such a great time!

Jaime was only able to get a couple pictures of Quinn trick or treating in our neighborhood. I usually take all the pictures but since I was carrying Joshua it was a little bit harder this year. Nevertheless, Quinn had a fabulous time loading up on candy and cruising the neighborhood with her little neighbor friend, Madeline.

Can't believe I'm posting about things we did in October and now its December 5th! Just have been a little busy with these two little kiddos!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Cannot believe that I'm sitting here about to write about Joshua being 2 months old! Where have the past 60 or so days gone? Things have been sooooo busy around here with the two kiddos that I have fallen behind on my blog posts as I'm just trying to keep up with all that is going on around here. Life with two is definitely much busier than it was with just Quinn! I'm constantly trying to make sure each child has what he/she needs and wants and sometimes I feel like there is just not enough of me to go around! Weekends are so much easier around the house since Jaime is home and we can kind of do a man on man approach whereas when it is just me on the weekdays I feel like I'm stretching myself thin. I constantly battle with giving each child what they need and want all day long. Joshua needs so much of me (nursing, holding, rocking, changing diapers etc..) and Quinn needs so much of me too (playing, meals, help going potty, getting dressed, entertaining etc...). If we stay home all day Joshua gets what he needs because he is able to have long uninterrupted naps and such but then Quinn is going bonkers because she is so bored. If we go out and do play dates and such Quinn is getting her social play time but I always worry that Joshua is not getting what he needs. Maybe this is just the dilemma of a mother of more than one child?

Things are going pretty well with Joshua and he is become such a chubby, happy little guy! He no longer wakes up every 2 hours at night (yipeee) and only wakes up twice. He naps well in his crib in the morning and has a harder time taking his late afternoon nap in his crib as he wants to be held. We are still having to do a lot of rocking and soothing to get him to go to bed at night. In January after the holidays are over and things have calmed down a bit I'm planning on doing the real sleep training with him (i.e. crying it out, if I can handle it). This is what we did with Quinn and she is and always has been and excellent independent sleeper. We shall see...

We have our two month well check next week so we will see how much weight he's gained and all that good stuff.

Monday, October 31, 2011

On Friday evening we attended the Vista Ridge High School Trunk or Treat event. Our little princess was ready to hit the road and collect candy! Our frog (Joshua) snoozed the whole time and I didn't catch a picture of him. :( I will try and grab one of him tonight as we trick or treat around the neighborhood.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to flip this image right side up- this is what he looks like upside down at 1 month. :)

On Saturday Joshua was one month old! I really think we are all adjusting to each other quite well. He is such a cuddle little guy and really likes to be held as much as he can. He also has taken a liking to his little gym mat recently and sometimes can stay in it for up to 30 minutes! We're working on tummy time (as often as I can remember) and he is not the biggest fan of that yet. What a little eater this guy is too! He wakes up about every 2-3 hours to eat still but goes right back to sleep after eating. He's such a loud sleeper that sometimes I think he'll be waking up and when I go check him he is sound asleep; Lots of grunting, sometimes even a cry or two but always still asleep. We've seen a few smiles from him and can't wait to see what he'll be doing next!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

We attended the Twin Lakes YMCA Fall Fest this weekend. It was such a great time! I've been so nostalgic lately thinking about how quickly time goes by when you have children and couldn't stop thinking that just one quick year ago we were at our first Fall Fest with Quinn. Here are a few pictures of her at last year's event:

And here are pictures of her at this year's event:

It just isn't fair how quickly children grow up!! I will remember that tonight when I am awake feeding little man every two hours. ;)

Wow! What an adjustment it has been for all of us in the Pina family lately. Going from one child to two has been wonderful and challenging all in the same- for everybody. The biggest challenge Jaime and I are experiencing is learning how to juggle the needs and wants of both children at the same time. Joshua is the sweetest most cuddly little baby ever- but wants to be held most of the day. This is a bit of a challenge as Quinn is so active and wants to be played with all day. We are learning day by day and will hopefully learn how to find a new "normal". Here are a few pictures of life around the house lately:

Hope this picture doesn't gross anybody out- just thought it was too cute that Quinn wanted to nurse her baby too! Jaime even crafted her a little boppy pillow too!